Article on Hitting Bottom in 17 States and the Suppression of Liability

David J. Cook recently published an Article entitled, Hitting Bottom in 17 States and the Suppression of Liability, 43 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 277-291 (2017). Provided below is an abstract of the Article:

This article explains that Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPTs) introduce liability districts that create a new marketplace that attract capital in flight from creditors of a highly distressed debtor. A “liability district” is a jurisdiction that suppresses liability by immunizing the assets of a debtor from local civil enforcement of a judgment. While the DAPT debtor thwarts enforcement and suppresses the debtor’s liability, the true beneficiary is the liability district and its constituent members including attorneys, professional trustees, banks, and financial advisors. As a contributing factor to Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” in the marketplace, DAPTs open the door for fleeing capital to the liability districts for sovereign and nearly “judgment proof” safekeeping. DAPTs suppress liability and give near immunity from enforcement under a civil judgment, which is all closely analogous to the state legislatures who suppressed voter turnout from 2008 to 2016.